Liverpool Are Emirates FA Cup Champions – Tsimikas Penalty Wins Thriller

The Reds returned to the national stadium to face a familiar foe, an opponent they had beaten on penalties to win the Carabao Cup a little over 2 months ago, Chelsea. Like their last final at the iconic stadium, they drew 0-0 after an entertaining game where both sides missed a number of good chances to score goals, with Liverpool the worst culprits having done more than enough to win the match during regulation time.

The 8th FA Cup title took 16 years to return to Anfield. But it didn’t come without drama. After Steven Gerrard’s miraculous equalizer against West Ham in Cardiff which the Reds went on to win the trophy, he led a new generation into another finals against Chelsea in 2012, this time with Andy Caroll, Luis Suarez, Jordan Henderson, Steward Downing, Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and co but Chelsea led by the powerful Didier Drogba, captain John Terry and Frank Lampard won the game 2-1 after Andy Carroll’s supposed equaliser was disallowed by referee Phil Dowd.

These two sides are no strangers to giving fans cracking games, and with both teams being managed by Germans who are used to winning big, the game lived up to the hype.

Liverpool started the brighter side and probably should have been 2-0 up in the first 15 minutes through January signing Luis Diaz, but on both occasions Edouard Mendy in goal for Chelsea was on hand to thwart the Colombian’s efforts away from his goal.

The Reds kept asking questions of the Chelsea backline who struggled to settle. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s passing and vision were too good for the Blues to manage whilst Mané and Salah kept finding spaces in between the Chelsea backline but could not quite find the back of the net.

The Blues looked like they had returned to Wembley with revenge on their minds, and after withering the early onslaught from the Reds began to find their own rhythm to make the game competitive. First, Alonso thought he had opened the scoring when he lost Trent to go one on one with Alisson but the Brazilian was quick of his lines to deny the Blues. Then Christian Pulisic also had a good chance to test the Liverpool goal but his smart effort went wide.

The Reds with Thiago and Henderson especially dominated the midfield making it difficult for Chelsea to string passes together but were very wasteful upfront with their chances.

The Red half of Wembley had their hearts in their mouths on the half hour mark when top scorer and key man Mohamed Salah went to the ground in an off the ball situation. The Egyptian clearly could be seen in pain and his afternoon appeared to be over. He was replaced by Diogo Jota whilst both the Liverpool bench and fans looked on concerned and hoped his injury would not rule him out of the UEFA Champions League final showdown on May 28 in Paris.

Chelsea managed to force Liverpool into shooting from distance for the reminder of the first half with much credit to Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger in the heart of the Blues defense.

Second half began with Chelsea on the front foot. Whatever Thomas Tuchel had said to his players in the dressing room was clearly evident as Lukaku and Pulisic in quick succession breached the Liverpool backline but missed the goal. Chelsea sensing they could take the lead kept stomping forward on the right side where Reece James and Mason Mount operated and in the 65th almost took the lead but Trent was on hand to steal the ball off the legs of Christian Pulisic.

Naby Keita responded with a good effort of his own to give Liverpool the lead but Mendy tipped the ball over brilliantly. Luis Diaz hit the post agonisingly from the resulting corner kick.

With time running out for a winner, Chelsea brought on Kantè and Ziyech for Mateo Kovacic and Romelu Lukaku, whilst Liverpool responded by bringing on the 36 year old James Milner for Naby Keita. The appearance made Milner the oldest player to play for the Red in the FA Cup final in Wembley.

Liverpool thought that had snatched a late winner Mané and Diaz exchanged passes before the Senegalese sending the ball to the onrushing Trent who whipped a brilliant cross for Andy Robertson but the Scottish fullback also hit the woodwork with his shot much to the frustration of the Liverpool bench and fans.

Referee Craig Pawson brought the thrilling encounter to an end after 94 minutes of action with nothing to separate both sides.

Liverpool brought on Joel Matip for Virgil Van Dijk in what looked like a minor injury to the Dutch captain. Tsimikas replaced the tired Robertson while Firmino also replaced Man of The Match Luis Diaz. Chelsea brought on captain Cesar Azpilicueta and Loftus-Cheek for Chalobah and Pulisic respectively.

First half of extra time followed similar pattern to the early stages of the game with Liverpool dominating and seeking to win the game in 120 minutes. Sadio Mané, Diogo Jota and Thiago all had good chances to put the Reds ahead but somehow, they missed with the goal at their mercy.

Hakim Ziyech almost punished the Reds with a brilliant free kick but Alisson was alert to parry the ball away for a corner kick to the Blues.

With 120 minutes showing on the clock, it appeared both benches had accepted that the game would once again be decided by penalty shootout. The Liverpool players especially looked more disappointed after the final whistle knowing they could have won the game in regulation time.

Marcos Alonso expertly dispatched Chelsea’s first penalty kick sending Alisson the wrong way. Milner, Liverpool’s Mr. Reliable pulled parity with his kick.

Next was captain Azpilicueta. He missed his kick with his effort hitting the post. Thiago Alcantara gave the Reds the advantage after cooly slotting his kick sending Mendy the wrong way.

Reece James, Roberto Firmino, Ross Barkley and Trent all scored from their kicks before Sadio Mané was faced with the decisive kick to win it for Liverpool against his fellow countryman standing between him and a Liverpool triumph. Mendy saved the kick to give his side a lifeline from Sudden death. Hakim Ziyech and Diogo Jota both put their kicks away with both sets of fans cheering loudly.

Mason Mount who had a decent game missed his penalty as Alisson’s strong left arm stopped the ball from going past him which swung the pendulum once again into Liverpool’s favor. Kostas Tsimikas stepped forward with probably the most crucial kick of the night as he kept a cool head to send Mendy the wrong way to seal victory for Liverpool.

Liverpool are Champions of the Emirates FA Cup 2022. A deserved win for the Reds. This Liverpool team are writing their own history.

As the Liverpool players, coaches and fans went into wild jubilations, captain Jordan Henderson walked to his English teammate Mason Mount to console him. For Mount, it would take quite a while to forget his misery, after losing 5 previous finals in a row at Wembley, losing 1-2 with Derby County against Aston Villa in the Championship play-off, losing two FA Cup finals to Arsenal, Leicester City and then losing on International level with England against Italy in the Euros. And in February this year, he played a part in the Chelsea side lost on penalties after a gruelling 0-0 draw with Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.

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